A.M. Roundup: Geologist isn’t so worried about fracking

Good morning! Happy Pi Day! This is the week of one-house budget resolutions at the Capitol, and negotiations over the state spending plan — due in two weeks — will continue to crank along in high gear. Here are some headlines from this morning and weekend…

As we head toward a budget showdown, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos is puckering up to Gov. Andrew Cuomo: “I think the chamber is functioning better. Number one, we passed three of the governor’s program bills that have been his priorities,” he says when asked how things are going. (TU)

A “source familiar with Cuomo’s comments” tells Fred Dicker: “If legislators think they are going to hijack the budget and add more spending then [Cuomo] will go it alone,” said a source familiar with Cuomo’s comments.//”The governor really doesn’t care whether the budget is done amicably with the Legislature or not,” the source continued.//”He would like to do the budget amicably, but it must be done right.” (NYP)

Welcome to the new frontier of FOIL: requesting records digitally and being socked with high bills for reproduction, as Bill Mahoney was, or being forced to settle for paper copies. (TU)

It’s nearly impossible to fire employees at group homes for the mentally disabled, so many workers have repeated disciplinary problems and remain on the payroll. (NYT; this explains what Danny Hakim has been up to these past few months)

Fred LeBrun: Legislators inclined to lean crooked clearly did not heed the warning writ large in the federal trial and conviction of state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno. They learned nothing, because it goes on, and on. Apparently they’re beyond embarrassment, humiliation, even disgrace.//So let’s put a code of conduct in place that will get their attention. And then let’s reintroduce an element that’s gone missing.//It’s called fear. Fear of getting caught, fear of dire consequences. Fear of Old Testament retribution. I’ve come to appreciate the value of fear as a motivator, as politically incorrect as that might be to admit.(TU)